FBi Radio, the Sydney community radio station which launched a PR campaign to get Richard Branson to donate $1million, has been saved after donors contributed $350,000 to the struggling station.
FBi now estimates it has enough money to cover its costs for the next two years.
In May FBi, with pro bono help from Naked Communications and Frank PR, launched its Ask Richard campaign, where the station’s supporters were called on to create their own unique PR stunt to get the attention of entrepreneur Richard Branson, in order to ask him for $1million.
The station’s plight eventually came to Branson’s attention when a women swam more than 5km to his private Caribbean island. He called into FBi on air and, while he stopped short of giving $1 million, he pledged the support of Virgin with prizes and incentives to help the station’s cause.
FBi’s general manager Evan Kaldor would not disclose how much the largest donations were, but said the average was much larger than anything else they had previously received.
“When we launched the campaign, we said our goal was to not only meet the immediate threat but also to secure our long term viability. To achieve this, we need to raise $1,000,000 to pay down our start up debt and provide a buffer to fund our ongoing operational costs, so we are not constantly living hand to mouth. The response to the campaigns has been overwhelming and we can say with much relief that, thanks to the generosity and hard work of so many people, we have now addressed the immediate threat to the station.
He added: “We would like to thank Sir Richard Branson for his really generous support giving us some fantastic prizes to help our supporter drive and to raise awareness of FBi’s plight in the media, which has helped flush out passionate FBi supporters who have gone on to support the station.”
Kaldor thanked Naked and Frank PR, calling the campaign idea “ingenious”.
